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2016 Christmas Music Playlist: Quality, not quantity

Last year I posted a lengthy Christmas music playlist, but to be honest I felt the need to pare down my playlist for this year. Don’t get me wrong, I have still been adding music to my collection…after all, what kind of connoisseur would I be if I didn’t? But I did trim the fat a little bit, decreasing the odds of getting two or three of the same song (via different artists) in succession while shuffling in iTunes or on a mobile device.

Here’s what I have going on this year so far (I’m not above adding more to this list later):

Most of these are available on iTunes, but I lack the ambition tonight to build the links. 🙂 Here are a few thoughts:

Nick Lowe. You may remember his one big USA Top 40 hit in the 80s, “Cruel to Be Kind”. He is the single greatest surprise I encountered when looking for new Christmas music. You owe it to yourself to check him out.

Owl City (Adam Young): He’s got some awesome Christmas tunes, one of which is featured in a Veggie Tales film. I have three in this playlist. One is not Christmas specific, but a great tune nonetheless.

Sidewalk Prophets: I admit, I’m a sucker for any song that starts out with dialogue from A Charlie Brown Christmas. But it’s a great song anyway.

The Brian Setzer Orchestra: These guys have a really upbeat take on Christmas music, and I especially like their Yabba Dabba Yuletide (obviously to the tune of the Flintstones theme).

Actor Robert Davi channels a pretty good SInatra. I’ve seen him in dozens of films and TV appearances, but I always think of him of the Bond villain Sanchez in “Licence to Kill”.

I have lots of the old classics…the Andrews Sisters, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, and the like. But in this list I’m more selective with the old standards and trying to painstakingly grab the best of the newer stuff. I hope you like it.